Chapter 2:
Later:
At six sharp Sebastian pulled into the driveway, he sighed trying to prepare himself for another boring night pretending he liked the brothers. He got out, went to the front door and knocked, a few seconds later Chris answered smiling, Sebastian put on a fake smile.
"Hey Chris!"
"Hey Sebastian! I hope you're hungry?" Chris said as they went inside.
"Starving, I missed lunch today." Sebastian answered smiling. "Smells good, what's for dinner?"
"Martin made spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread." Chris said.
"Hey, you're here!" Martin said smiling as he came out of the kitchen. "How are you Sebastian?"
"I'm good Marty, dinner smells great!" Sebastian answered smiling.
"Come on then, dinner's ready let's eat!" Martin said.
After dinner the three men sat in the living room talking, Sebastian was counting down the minutes until he could escape the annoying goody-goodies. He couldn't stand being around the brothers, they were too annoyingly kind and generous; it was enough to make him sick! An hour later, he had had enough and went to make up some kind of excuse to leave when Chris spoke.
"Sebastian, there's a reason we invited you to dinner tonight."
"Oh?" Sebastian said.
"Well, Martin and I have been talking and we've come to a decision finally about your offer to join us!" Chris said.
"And?" Sebastian asked.
"Well, it wasn't an easy decision. We both think you'd be a great addition to our team, but Martin and I always wanted to do this on our own." Chris explained.
"I understand, I…"
"We also know that to do all we want to we're going to need help! So, Sebastian if you still want to join us…the position is yours!" Chris said smiling.
"It is?" Sebastian asked smiling, as both brothers nodded. "You won't regret this, I promise!" Sebastian said shaking their hands.
"This calls for a celebration!" Martin said as he left the room with Chris to get the three of them drinks.
"That was too easy! You two have no idea what I have planned for you!" Sebastian said to himself, an evil smirk on his face. "No idea!"
Months Later:
The days after Sebastian joined them went by fast, with the brothers teaching him everything he needed to know to be part of their team. Four months later they finally got their first mission; there was a poacher in the Savannah and no one had been able to catch them. This was something none of them had faced before, and they wanted to stop him and save the animals. After three days of searching they had found and stopped him, Sebastian had learned a lot about the brothers and how they worked. That mission had been the start of their constant success in whatever job they worked on, earning them the nickname the Unstoppable Trio! Despite their success and close friendship, Chris' feelings of distrust towards Sebastian grew stronger each day. Chris began to wonder if Sebastian had somehow lied about his education, he wasn't sure how Sebastian could have done it, but Chris knew he had. He had a valid reason for his doubts; despite claiming he had the exact same education as both brothers, Sebastian had no idea what he was doing or talking about unless the brothers helped. Martin though was oblivious to it; he was too focused on having Sebastian part of the team, and their dream finally coming true. Sebastian's education; or lack of, wasn't the only thing Chris was having a difficult time with. His biggest problem was the relationship Sebastian and Martin had, he knew he was being childish, and maybe even a little jealous, but he couldn't help it! Ever since Sebastian joined them, Martin was always with Sebastian, they were inseparable, sharing inside jokes, constantly leaving Chris out. Of course there were times when they included him in their fun and at times like that Chris felt like he belonged and wasn't just a third wheel. Then there were times when Chris and Sebastian were alone together, and even though they acted like best friends, something felt different. Sebastian acted and spoke to Chris differently than he did to Martin, and Chris started to think Sebastian didn't like him. He'd watch the way Martin was with Sebastian and he couldn't help, but feel jealous and angry. He should have told Martin, but he knew how happy and excited Martin was and no matter how much it hurt he couldn't tell him.
Sebastian meanwhile was surprised at how easy it was to pretend that he knew what he was doing. When there was something he couldn't fake his way through, he was able to bluff his way through it until Martin or Chris filled in the blanks for him. He was a fast learner and since he was a genius he learned all he needed to survive. He realized Chris was keeping him at a distance, he didn't care really, truthfully he had always hated Chris more than Martin. Now months later he still hated Chris, but found himself liking Martin, he was like a brother to him. Sebastian had plans to get rid of Chris, leaving Martin and Sebastian to carry on, but he didn't know how he was going to do it yet. He didn't want either brother to know his true feelings or plans, until he wanted them to, so he continued playing the role of best friend and business partner to both brothers.
Then one day a year after joining the brothers Sebastian found a new obsession, putting his other obsession with breaking up the brothers to the back of his evil mind, his new obsession…wild cats; only the big ones though. Anytime he encountered a big wild cat on a mission, he was in awe of their stealth and raw power, as well as their ability to make people; even grown men tremble in their presence. He needed to know more about the different species and to do that he needed the brothers help. So, to do it without either brother becoming suspicious he would bring the topic up randomly and what they didn't tell him he researched. By the time he had all he needed, he decided to capture big wild cats to use as his own private army!
Meanwhile Chris' jealousy grew causing him to push not only Sebastian away, but Martin too. It hurt Chris to know his own brother didn't realize what he was doing, he wanted to grab Martin and shake him as he yells 'Remember me Martin? I'm your brother!" In the beginning Chris felt bad for thinking that way about Martin, but when it kept happening and Martin continued making plans with Sebastian, asking Chris to join them as an afterthought those feelings of guilt went away! He knew he should talk to Martin, but he couldn't Martin was so happy having Sebastian around, Chris just couldn't bring himself to doing that to Martin. One day his feelings got the best of him when he came home to find Martin and Sebastian sitting in the living room laughing.
"Hey, you're home! How was your day bro?" Martin asked smiling.
"Fine! I met…"
"That's great Chris, but wait until you hear what happened to us today!" Martin said cutting Chris off. "It was hilarious!"
"Can it wait until dinner?" Chris asked annoyed. "Just let me have a quick shower and change then we can go." Chris said heading for the stairs.
"Go? Go where?" Martin asked stopping him.
"To dinner, remember? You and I were going to dinner…alone, to have some Kratt brother bonding time! It was your idea Martin!" Chris answered.
"That was tonight?" Martin asked.
"Uh, yeah!"
"Oh."
"You forgot didn't you?" Chris asked frustrated.
"Maybe."
"You made plans with Sebastian didn't you?"
"Hypothetically, let's just say I did. How mad would you be…hypothetically of course?"
"Unbelievable! You know what? It's fine! Go ahead Martin, go hang out with Sebastian again! I'm tired anyway, I'm going to bed!" Chris said trying to hide his hurt as he went upstairs.
"Umm…Sebastian, why don't you go start the car I need to check on Chris." Martin said as he got up and went upstairs to Chris' room and knocked. "Chris?"
"Go have fun Martin, I'm already in bed!" Chris yelled out to him through the door.
"Chris just open the door!" Martin ordered.
"What do you want?" Chris asked when he opened the door.
"Whoa Chris, what's with attitude huh?"
"I'm surprised you noticed." Chris answered quietly, avoiding Martin's eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Martin demanded.
"It's not supposed to mean anything! I'm really tired Martin, I'll see you tomorrow okay?"
"Uh yeah, sure. Night Chris."
"Night Martin." Chris said as he shut the door and sat on his bed. Seconds later he heard Martin go downstairs, then seconds after he heard him leave the house. Sighing he got up and looked out his window and saw Martin get into Sebastian's car smiling before they drove away. "It's true…I'm being replaced by Sebastian!" He said sadly as he grabbed his things and headed for a shower.
Months Later:
Sebastian couldn't be happier; with each passing day he could see and feel the tension between the brothers. Of course all of it one-sided, coming from Chris, with Martin being completely oblivious to it all. Using the distraction, Sebastian decided now would be the perfect time to start capturing his cats. Of course he had no idea how to do that, so he decided to hire someone to do it for him. After doing research he finally found the perfect guy, a man everyone; including the brothers suspected of poaching, but no one could find any proof. He knew the man would be suspicious and uncooperative considering Sebastian's part of the team trying to stop him. He also knew he had to be careful knowing Chris already doesn't like him, and he'd be more than happy to ruin all of Sebastian's plans if he had the chance. So, one night Sebastian went to the man's house having gotten the address from the brother's files. He knocked on the door and a minute later a middle-aged man with light brown hair, and brown eyes answered. Seeing Sebastian he became very suspicious, and looked around for the brothers as he spoke.
"What do you want? Come to harass me?" The man sneered. "I ain't done nothing, and you can't prove anything!" The man finished as he smirked.
"Mr. Price, I'm Sebastian Fox. I'd like to talk to you about a job."
"You think I'm stupid enough to fall for that? I know who you are, and who you work with!"
"Yes, yes I work with those annoying, goody-goodies the Kratt brothers! As you can see though, I'm alone and I was serious about the job!" Sebastian answered, Price starred at him quietly trying to figure out if he should trust him or not.
"You got 10 minutes!" Price said as he let him inside.
Once inside the sparsely decorated living room Sebastian sat in a chair across from the couch, and waited until Price had sat down too and lit a smoke before he spoke.
"I'll get right to the point Mr. Price. I'm a very, very, very rich man, who is need of your particular set of skills!" Sebastian said smiling.
"What is it you think I can do for you Mr. Fox?"
"You see, I've become obsessed with wild cats, big ones. I want them for my own personal army, but unfortunately I don't have the skills necessary to acquire my cats!"
"Go on." Price said.
"I'm prepared to hire you to locate and capture them, then you will return them to me putting them in a warehouse I own. Of course money is no object and you will have full access to my private jet to capture and return the cats to me. All of this remains between the two of us though Mr. Price, I cannot make that any clearer! I don't tolerate incompetence and if word gets out you're involved I will deny everything and keep myself free of blame! Am I understood?"
"Yeah, I understand you!"
"Very good! So, Mr. Price, are you interested?"
"I' am! And let me assure you, I'm good at what I do and there won't be any mistakes!"
"That's why I chose you! Here is a list of the cats I want, and the country they come from, I want two of each kind! Make your necessary preparations, and call me at this number when you're ready to go!" Sebastian said handing Price a piece of paper with his home number on it. "I do hope it won't take you long to prepare?"
"No sir, two days tops! Price answered.
"Excellent! I'll see myself out, and remember Mr. Price I' am not the type of man you make angry…bad things happen when I'm angry! I'll be expecting your call, goodnight Mr. Price."
"Goodnight Mr. Fox!" Price said as Sebastian left.
A few weeks past and Sebastian's secret plans were slowly coming together. He was very pleased with Price's work, he was quick, but most of all he was good at what he did! Sebastian now had in his possession two lions, two cheetahs, and two lynx, with Price hunting for two tigers at that very moment. Of course, the missing cats didn't go unnoticed and Sebastian interfered and was able to throw the brothers off Price's trail…or so he thought!
TBC…
